The Account
by nellecat621
Summary: FE7: 'This is an ACCOUNT. Not a diary, and ACCOUNT' Follow the adventures of Sandra the tactician! ahahahaha... Anyways, this will follow a female tactician during Hector's tale. Hope you like it!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters. If I did, Leila wouldn't have died and you would have been able to get a Fell contract in chapter 12.

Chapter 1

Day 1

Well, since I just became employed I've decided to start a new account. (Not a diary, an ACCOUNT) Anyways, for the people other than me reading this ACCOUNT, my name is Sandra. No last name, no middle name, just Sandra. Don't get me wrong; I have a family. I just don't like them. Or talk to them. Or like to have people associate me with them...Ummm... ANYWAYS, for those who care to know, I have long auburn hair (ends at about mid-shoulderblade) and green eyes. I'm 5 feet, 5 inches and 3/4, no less, no more. I wear a grass green cloak with dark green embroidery, but under that I wear a dull green shirt, a brown satchel and brown pants. But enough about my physical description, on to the important information.

I am a tactician. A strategist, if you must. A year ago, I was under the employment of Lyn, now known as Lady Lyndis of Caelin. With her skills, my tactics, (though I took part in battle as well) and the help of many other people, we were able to defeat her evil uncle Lord Lundgren (or was it great-uncle?) and save her grandfather. After that final battle, Lyn offer me a job in Caelin, but I declined. I needed improve my skills and that would be best done by traveling. She knew she couldn't stop me so she gave me payment for my services (a very nice sum) and wished me goodbye.

Well, that's my recent past. (About a year ago) Currently, I am under the employment of Lord Hector of Ostia, brother of Lord Uther, Marquess of Ostia. Now, how did I find myself under Lord Hector's service? Well, (Shut up, I LIKE the word well) it went something like this:

I was walking the streets of Ostia's capital city, minding my own business. Sure, I filched an apple there, a bagel here, but nothing too bad. I was a little, ah, broke at the time. The money Lyn had paid me had run out the week before and I was looking for a way to earn a little gold. I happened to be walking near Castle Ostia, when suddenly and ogre of a man (Both in size and looks) blocked my path. It was completely uncalled for!

Well, actually, the man had been following me for a good five minutes...I had a lot on my mind! He was a rather ugly man, really. He was square! As wide as he was tall, looking like he weighed 200 pounds. Unfortunately, it was not in fat. He was very muscular, but you just coloured him green he would look like a baby-eating ogre!

"Yer a pretty one, girly," said Orge, (I've named him Orge! Ehehehe...) giving me a holey smile. Ewwww... his teeth were yellow... some even black! And his breath smell like rotton fish and manure. "How's about cuming with me?" I didn't like the look he was giving me. Very dirty.

"...AS IF," I spat back, then slapped him and ran.

As I ran, I tried to predict Orge's next move. He seemed to be the type who would get violently angry, swear, and chase after me in order to get what he wanted by force. He probably would get his goons to help him as well. Yes, he probably had goons. Low and behold, I heard a loud expletive from behind me. When I glanced back at him, I saw him and seven goons chasing after me.

Today just wasn't my day.

Normally, I would have stood my ground and fight them, but there were a couple problems. One, I didn't have a weapon. I sold my sword and dagger last week so that I could pay the innkeeper. Two, there were eight of them and one of me. Even though I was a swordwielder (Did I mention that Ogre and his goons used axes? Figures, right? People like Ogre and those who serve them ALWAYS use axes) and probably a better fighter, I didn't want to take the chance. I was smarter to find some Ostia knights to take care of them for me. This was Castle Ostia! Of course there would be knights around, right?

Not really.

Ten minutes of running and I still hadn't spotted any knights. I was getting rather annoyed. Even though I wasn't really tired, I was confident that I would have spotted at least one knight by now. I mean, it was Castle Ostia! The most well-defended fortress in Elibe! Why hadn't I seen any knights protecting it?!

As I rounded the next corner, I caught sight of an open door. "_An unguarded open door? Not smart on the defence captain's part, but good for me!_" I quickly rushed for the door and as soon as I was through it, shut is quietly. "Whew, glad that's over," I said to myself. Finally I-

"Who the hell are you?!"

By St. Elimine...

I turned around to see an angry, nasty-looking knight. He didn't look like an Ostian knight...

"I-," but before I even started, the knight charged at me with his lance. Almostly instantly I dropped into a crouch, feeling the spear whiz over my head. As readied himself for his next attack, I opened the door behind me, duck through his legs and pushed him out. (All in one move!) As he fell through the doorway, I slammed the door shut and locked it.

Finally, no more crazy, angry, violent men. Now to find some servant to show me the way out...

BOOM!

Shit.

"This REALLY isn't my day..." I sighed, but made my way towards the noise. Why? Well, whatever "boomed" in the keep was probably better than eight, no nine crazy, angry, violent men that were outside.

As I walked into another room, I spotted a red figure. As I got closer, I realized it was a sandy-haired man decked in a red cape. At the moment, he was crouching in front of a treasure chest, trying to opening.

"A thief, I bet," I thought, "No matter, thieves are more interested in getting treasure than attac- Wait. Red cape...sandy hair...thief...it couldn't be..."

"HEY MATTHEW!!" The man looked up.

"So it IS Matthew," I mutter to myself, making my way towards him, "Now, why is he here? Trying to steal for Castle Ostia isn't the smartest thing to do." As I neared Matthew, a large, blue-armored and very pissed looking man bursted into the room.

"MATTHEW! You dastard! Why in the name of St. Elimine did you leave me!? I had four people attacking from all sides and then you vanished! I could have been killed!" I could practically see the veins on this guy's forehead bulging. He was VERY pissed and looked ready to kill. (Again, I guess. Him being in the room probably meant those four guys he was talking about were already dead.)

"Well, young master..." Huh? Young master? "You seemed to be doing quite fine on your own so I thought it would be best for me to just go ahead," Matthew replied casually, like it was normal to abandon an ally in a time of need. "you did finish them off without injury." Did Matthew want to make this guy more angry? Well, probably. I mean, this was Matthew, who could resist a tease. That man was so aggravating... It was hilarious.

"That's not the point! You think that you can just- Who the hell are you?" Aah, so I'm finally noticed. I had started to think I had faded into the background or something.

"Hello! My name is Sandra. I'm a traveling tactician, trying to further my studies and train my skills. Who are you?"

Leaning on his bloody axe, (the boom was likely it hitting the ground somewhere) the man replied, "I'm Lord Hector of Ostia. Now tell me how, did you get in here?"

"I walked in."

"...What?"

"I walked in," I repeated.

"Are you saying you just walked into Castle Ostia, the most well-defended fortress in all of Elibe?"

"Yes."

"...I really should have a talk with the defence captain..."

"Well..." Matthew started, "It's been awhile, right Sandra?"

"Yes it has, Matthew. Now tell me-"

"Wait, you two know each other?" Hector interrupted. Geez, could he was waited a little?

"Yes we-"

"Sandra was the tactician of a group I was traveling with during a mission, sire. Why not hire her services? We never lost a battle with her acting as tactician. She can also wield a sword quite well, so we don't have to protect all the time." Matthew informed.

"Hey! I can speak too!" I thought to myself. Oh well...

"Well, I guess she'd be useful..." Great. I'm useful... "Why not! Sandra, you're hired! Now, let's go finish this battle and get out of here!" Hector decided and rushed in the direction I had just came from.

I'm not complaining, but doesn't the employee usually have a say about whether they want a job or not? Eh. At least I won't have to worry about money anymore...

As we ran back the way I came, I wondered what happened to Ogre, his goons and the nasty knight. When we arrived at the room I first entered and unlocked the door, I got my answer. Outside, there were 9 bloody corpses lying on the ground. I guess the Ogre and his goons battled it out with the nasty knight. Go figure.

To wrap things up, (my hand is getting tired) Lord Hector, Matthew, and I left Castle Ostia. We are heading for Santaruz to help Lord Hector's friend Lord Eliwood of Pherae. It appears that Lord Eliwood's father is missing, so Lord Eliwood is searching for him and, as Eliwood's best friend, Lord Hector is rushing to help.

I still haven't found out why Matthew calls Lord Hector 'sire' and 'young master.' I know that Matthew is in Lord Hector's service, but he wasn't like this with Lyn. I guess I'll guess have to corner him.

Oh! After we left, I saw two people tailing us. I'm very sure that Matthew knows this too, but he's not saying anything. Oh well, if he's not doing anything, I won't.

My hand is cramping from all this writing and I'm tired. I guess I'll stop here. 'Night!

-Sandra


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem

Chapter 2

Day 4

Well, today we finally made it to Santaruz and joined Eliwood's company. (I guess you could call it a company. There are only six people in it though...) We met them during a battle, of course. You ALWAYS meet allies during, prior, or after a battle. Anyways, let's start from the beginning of the day.

After three and a half days of traveling, Lord Hector, Matthew, and I finally arrived in Santaruz. It had been a long three and a half days. (Its three and a half because we didnt start traveling until about mid-day.) The night we settled down for camp on the first night, Lord Hector and Matthew got into a loud, pointless fight about supper. (It was a one-sided fight though, Matthew wasn't really arguing) Lord Hector thought that Matthew had taken more food than his share, while Matthew was just brushing off his accusation and eating. This then made Lord Hector even angrier and LOUDER. (My ears...) Fortunately, after about seven of yelling, Lord Hector just gave up and stormed into his tent. I thought that was the end of his racket. (If you're wondering, I saw Matthew sneak a little more food, but voicing my observation probably would have made the yelling last longer.)

But nooooooo. Lord Hector had to be loud all the time. His snoring could cause earthquakes! (Okay, I'm exaggerating, but still! He was LOUD!) No matter how much I covered my ears to trying to block out the sound, I still couldn't get back to sleep. And really, do you know how hard it is to fall asleep while trying to cover your ears? So, I dragged my cot as far away from Lord Hector and Matthew's tent (We only had one tent, and OF COURSE Lord Hector and Matthew. No matter, I like sleeping under the stars more anyways...unless it's raining) and slept. I wonder how Matthew got any sleep with that roaring Lord Hector was making.

The following morning, I woke up to find my brand new iron sword was missing. (Lord Hector bought me one before we left the Ostian Capital) While Lode Hector and Matthew were having breakfast, I went into their tent and found my sword under Matthew's cot. After taking it, I left the tent, walked up to Matthew and smacked him with my sword. Hard. As he sat on the ground rubbing his head, I ate my breakfast and the day continued. (Hey, my sword was sheathed and I hit him with the flat. He wasn't seriously injured.) From then on I slept with my sword beside me.

So for three and a half days, this was the pattern: Wake up, check belongings, retrieve stolen belongs from Lord Hector and Matthews tent, hit Matthew with sword on the head, (once I kicked him in the crotch for stealing my cloak. My sword, thats fine but NO ONE steals my cloak and gets away with it. Or this book. Even though its an ACCOUNT, I dont want people 

to touch it.) breakfast, listen Lord Hector yell at Matthew, travel, stop for lunch, more yelling, travel, make camp, supper, yelling, attempting to sleep, sleep (however little I get) and repeat.

Im lucky I can still hear.

At least I learned why Matthew called Lord Hector 'sire' and 'young master.' He was loyal to Ostia and not only that, he was a spy! Now, how did I get this information out if Matthew? What devious, complicated trap had I set up to force the information out of him? Well, I just asked him. That's it. I just asked him. I was going to set a wonderful trap for him, but first I wanted to just try and ask him. I didn't think it would work! And I was prepared to work for it. I thought it was going to be a challenge. Oh well.

Anyways, shortly after entering Santaruz, Matthew caught sight of Lord Eliwood in the south. Now wasnt that lucky? But as we were about to start after him, there was a loud, high-pitched cry from behind us.

"LORD HECTOOOOOOR!"

We turned around to see a pink haired pigtailed girl running towards us. It was...Serra? "I've been seeing more familiar faces in the last few days than in the last year," I thought to myself, "Wait. She called to Lord Hector. How do they know each other?" I stole a glance at Lord Hector. It looked rather shocked and pissed at Serra's appearance. Maybe she was a persistent admirer?

"Lord Hector! It's so good to finally catch up to you! You were moving so fast and with Oswin slowing me down I couldn't catch up! I don't know why he wears all the armor! It makes him SO slow! I heard you were going to help Lord Eliwood! Why didn't you ask me to come? You know I would have loved to. What would you do if you got hurt? Without my amazing healing skills, you would get killed! Oh! Did you think that I would get hurt if you brought me along! Oh Lord Hector! That's so sweet of you! But if you just gave me a vassal, I would be fine. And- oh here comes Oswin! Oswin! I caught up to Lord Hector!"

Gah. I had forgotten how talkative she was. And how high-pitched her voice was. And how big her ego was. Oh well, she was a healer, and healers were always an asset. I bet she doesn't even recognize me. Anyways, both Serra and Oswin (who was a Ostian knight. Now where was he three and a half days ago?) joined our party. After Oswin and Lord Hector had a nice conversation, (When Lord Hector said I was his tactician, Oswin looked at me and then continued the conversation. No hello? No greeting? Not even a nod!) we proceeded south towards Eliwood.

Eliwood, though, was in the middle of a battle. While Lord Hector and our new members were talking, bandits had attacked Eliwood and his company. And he didn't look very well off. Probably didn't even have a tactician! Quickly, the five of us rushed to Eliwood's aid. (Lord 

Hector killed a soldier of Santaruz who was just standing there doing nothing. Really, what's happening to military defence these days?)

This battle didn't need me yelling out orders for the whole thing. I just told them, "Oswin and Lord Hector will be in front, attacking the enemy. Matthew and I will finish any of the ones you didn't kill off, and Serra will stay behind us, ready to heal. Serra, watch out for Pegasus knights, I see a couple out there. Call us if you see one coming at you." Everyone nodded, and we started fighting.

Just after entering battle, a, axe-wielded brigand charged at me. I easily dodged the attack (Axes-wielders have such bad aim) and slashed him diagonally across the chest. Before he could attempt another attack, I drove my sword through his heart. I pulled out my sword and quickly moved on before he even hit the ground.

Looking around, I saw Oswin spear a Pegasus knight in the chest, Matthew taking down an archer, and Lord Hector fighting a sword wielding mercenary. Lord Hector was having the most trouble. His shoulder was bleeding, and it was obviously affecting his performance. I signalled Serra to come over and heal him, then went in to finish off the mercenary.

Matthew beat me to it. He decapitated the injured mercenary with ease. I thought it was nice of him to save me the trouble, but Lord Hector thought different. ("That was MY kill!") But there wasn't any time for that. Another brigand and two more Pegasus knights were coming. The kill was forgotten.

After defeating the bandit leader, (Zagan. He was very chubby for a person who fights) Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood finally met up. Upon seeing him, I recognized Lord Eliwood. He was the one who helped Lyn and I the year before! 'I'll be sure to thank him later..." I noted in my brain. Then I went to meet the members of Eliwood's company. But before that happened, I was taken prisoner by Serra. I guess she finally remember me, and so dragged me off to her tent and talked my ears off until supper. I managed to escape her when she spotted Matthew. Haha. Poor Matthew. THEN I went to meet the members of Eliwood's company.

First I recognized Dorcas. (Another familiar face!) I greeted him, asked how Natalie was, and then left. I did know him, but I wasn't really close to him. He was traveling with another axe wielder named Batre. I don't like him. He seems...I don't know, but there's something in the way he speaks that annoys me.

After I went and introduced myself to a green haired bandana-wearing archer. Her name's Rebecca. I like her. (Not like that) She was very friendly and a very good cook. She just needs to build a little muscle. She has pretty good aim, but not too much strength behind it. But she has the makings of a great archer.

There was also Lowen and Marcus. Both mounted units. Very nice, (personality-wise) but Lowen REALLY needs a haircut. How can he see, let alone fight, with that mass of hair covering his eyes? And Marcus, no offense, but you're kind of...old. For the time being, your battle experience gives you an edge, but later on I'll have to put you aside. There are younger, stronger fighters that will probably join our party, and you just won't fit the bill anymore.

Well, were off to see Lord Helman of Santaruz to see if he knows were Eliwood's father is. Oh! We have also learned of a shady group of assassins that may be watching Eliwood. (Information courtesy of Zagan who spoke of it in his dying breath) We better be on our guard! (and get some more fighters...no offense, but a party of 11 people probably won't stand a chance against a group of assassins.) Time to sleep! I'm sharing a tent with Rebecca, and we're far enough from Lord Hector's tent that his snoring won't bother me. I hope.

Sandra

Author's Note: Any pairing recommendations?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of their characters. Just Sandra.

Author's note: Sorry for being so late! I spent my summer playing Persona 3: Fes (it's an awesome, extremely time consuming game) and going places (Europe!) so I was kind of busy...

Chapter 3

Day 5

Today, our joint group continued the journey to Santaruz Castle. It was an uneventful journey; no enemy encounters and only a few mishaps (Lowen emptied a bowl of boiling hot stew on to Lord Eliwood's lap, which resulted in Lord Hector nearly beating up Lowen. Fortunately, Oswin and Marcus managed to stop him. Lowen really needs cut his hair though) and by the time we made camp for the night, everyone still had a good bit of energy. Not a good thing. You'd think that this energy might be used to doing something productive like discussing battle tactics, or tending to weapons, or doing inventory or counting how many blades of grass there are in a plain but nooooo, people had to be loud.

Lord Hector and Serra made enough noise to scare away all the birds in the area arguing about something pointless, ("But Lord Hectooooooor!! I DESERVE something! Maybe not entire bucket of jewels, but maybe just a fe-" "No! Why should I reward with for disobey my commands?! Now quit pestering me!" "But Lord Hectoooooor!!") Bartre bellowed for no apparent reason at random points in the day, (Where are you?! Come out here, you coward!) and Matthew ran amuck purposefully creating chaos wherever he went, creating more noise. ("Matthew! Where the hell is my axe?" "EEEEEK!! What is this THING doing in my tent?!" "Has anyone seen the eating utensils?" "Why are their spoons in my quiver!?")

Wow. That was just one sentence...Maybe I should stop abusing my sentences with brackets...nah.

Anyways, Oswin was quiet, (But knew what he was thinking. He thinks I'm under-aged and unfit to lead the company. He hasn't said anything, but I can feel it) and Rebecca and Lowen weren't too loud either, except for the spoon-in-quiver incident. But it was still so noisy.

By the way, the tent rooming arrangements are as follows: Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood, Oswin and Marcus, Rebecca and Serra, Dorcas and Bartre, and Matthew. Matthew gets his own tent. I dont want to share with him, and besides, hes male. Im not. I prefer to sleep under an open sky anyways. As long as its not raining. Or snowing. Or any other weather condition that involves matter falling out of the sky.

The pretty much wraps up the day's events. Nothing very important happened...

I'm bored... but too awake to go to sleep...hmmmmm...

Let's assess everyones battle abilities! Dont look at the page like that. As the tactician, I would be best if I became familiar with everyones strengths and weakness on the battlefield. Unfortunately, the only information I have to work with is how everyone performed in yesterdays battle. But I think my conclusions are still fairly accurate. Well, here they are!

Lord Eliwood: Well, to be honest, he sucks. Very, very much. As a sword-wielding unit, he fails. He's like a knight without good defence or strength. Slow. But... He has an interesting fighting style. Stabbing, not slashing like most sword-wielders. Like a lance-wielder. He may become a good unit...but right now, he better stay behind the front lines.

Lord Hector: Better than Lord Eliwood, but Lord Hector really needs to learn how to hit his target. He has a great deal of power, but his fighting style (wildly swinging his axe around) isn't going to kill the more skilled enemies. And at one point during the battle, he lodged his axe in the ground. Fortunately the enemy was finished off by me, but it could have been disastrous. Lord Hector is very strong, and can take more hits than a normal axe-wielder, (with all that armour on) but he really needs to work on his accuracy. And speed. He's isn't very fast either.

Dorcas: He...can't dodge. Well, thats not completely true. He just has an incredibly high chance of getting hit. And he's large. Not a good combination. He always...well, you usually gets hit. If he didn't have such a high stamina, he'd be dead. Basically, all power, no dodge. Like a typical not-highly-skilled axe-wielder. But I knew this already. He was a member of the Lyndis Legion.

Bartre: Like Dorcas, except his a bit slow of mind as well. Actually, his mind is probably as fast as Oswin's feet. (I'll describe my opinion of Oswin next) I don't like him. He's too one-track minded (wants to fight all the time) and he seems like the type who rushes into dangerous situations without thinking. He better listen to my orders (and hopefully understand them) or he's going to get killed.

Oswin: If Serra was right about one thing, it's Oswin's speed. So. Very. Slow. I know he wears a lot of armour and that weighs him down, but really, he's a real tortoise. (Not a turtle, a tortoise. If he fell into water, he'd sink, not swim) It's fortunate that his armour is strong to keep him alive against the fast units, (because they usually are not very strong) but there will be enemies that are both fast and strong. Or have Knightslayers. Oswin better speed up!

Serra: I know that Serra's a healer and technically 'can't' fight, but she can swing that staff extremely hard! That crystal at the top of her staff isn't hollow either. One hard blow to an unprotected head with that rock would stun or even knock out the enemy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to use Serra as a fighting unit, but it's good to know that she's not completely defenceless. She's fast too. She should learn how to use a tome.

Matthew: He's a typical thief. All speed, very little strength. Hes very annoying and provocative. But that's beside the point. Matthew can dodge practically everything, which 

means I don't have to worry about him as much as SOME people, (axe-wielders... why can't they dodge?) but his lack of strength is going to catch up to him one of these days.

Rebecca: Our happy archer. She's a great cook! Unlike me... but anyways, she needs to work on her attack speed. Actually, she needs to work on her overall speed in general. She has decent accuracy, and okay strength (archers don't tend to be strong in the beginning) but she really needs to be faster. It would make up for her lack of strength, definitely.

Lowen: As I mentioned earlier, Lowen NEEDS a haircut. I don't know how he can see through that mess of bangs! I doubt that he can see. (I'm referring to him spilling a bowl of stew on Lord Eliwood. Lowen walked right into Lord Eliwood! Lowen wasn't even walking fast AND Lord Eliwood was even in his direct line of vision! Assuming Lowen isn't blind. Which he probably is. Because of his HAIR.) If he were to just cut away those horrible bangs, he would be a much better fighter. At least he'd have a chance of hitting something. His current hairstyle doesnt look that great either.

Marcus: Hes powerful, but thats in comparison to the rest of the party. Unfortunately, hes old, and thats effecting his skill. Right now, hes my main unit, drawing out the enemy so that they can be ganged up on by members of my company. Later on though, I believe that hes going to be overshadowed.

And thats my fighting party!

...

I wish Florina was here.

I love Florina! (as a friend and battle unit) Shes fast. And shes a flying unit. They can go anywhere! At first she was a little weak, but once she could handle that iron lance she was crazy. Sigh. Too bad shes so fragile. Gets seriously injured from only one or two blows. I wish she was here. I wish Lyn was here too... and Rath. I wish Rath was here. Hes an great archer AND hes a mounted unit. He was quiet too. Silent. I like him. (As I like Florina)

And now Im tired. Dont want to use too much of my candle tonight either. I only have ten. By the way, Lord Hector did keep me up last night, but I manage to get some sleep. A little more than the night before. Maybe Im getting use to it.

Tomorrow we reach Castle Santaruz. I have the feeling that theres going to a battle. Well, better get some rest then!

Sandra

Authors note: Its a filler. Sorry.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 4

Day 6

I'm exhausted! The last 24 hours have been hectic. I'm so tired...

But I must write! For if not...I'll have to write it tomorrow, along with tomorrow's events. Which means I'll have to write BOTH today's and tomorrow's events! But then again, nothing might happen tomorrow, which mean wouldn't have to write anything but today's events. But then again, I'm just trying to justify my procrastination. But I am so very tired...

I'll just write it today. Sigh. We're arriving in Laus tomorrow. Something is bound to happen. Probably more fighting. Nobles are always fighting! If all the rich folk stopped fighting and warring against each other, there would be less pointless deaths, less destruction, and I wouldn't have to write so much! But then I'd be out of a job...hmmm...I wonder what I would be if I wasn't a tactician...hmm...a mercenary? No, they would be out of jobs too...no, they would be hired by merchants to protect their goods from bandits! And if there are bandits, then nobles would have knights and such to protect them and (hopefully) their people from bandits. So there will be fights. And where there are fights, there will be tacticians! So I wouldn't be out of a job! Unless they exterminated the bandits...

I profit from violence, don't I?

ANYWAYS, it's time I record today's events, right?

The day started at around dawn... for me. I have trouble falling asleep, and I can't sleep in. A little ironic, don't you think? It's fortunate I can get by with only a few hours of sleep. I was already dressed (I slept in my traveling clothes. I have three sets which I alternate through every couple of days. I try to wash a set before wearing it again if possible, of course) so I decided to do nothing. Yep, nothing at all. It was one of the rare times in the day when the camp was quiet. Not silent though, Lord Hector snoring and all. But quiet. And I savoured it, thinking that it was it was going to be shattered in about an hour or two. But I was wrong.

It was barely half an hour.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

I wasn't the only one awake early in the morning.

Shortly after the yell, a very pissed off Lord Hector stormed out of his tent with a brightly coloured material in his hand. It was bright pink. And it happened to be his cape.

"WHO DID THIS?!"

It was practically a rhetorical question. Who else could it have been? Lowen? He should have been asking, (Well, yelling) "Where did he get the dye!?" because no one knows that except Matthew, right? I would like the answer to that.

But my lovely quietness was broken.

After Lord Hector's bellowing, everyone was up and getting ready to set off. Lowen and Rebecca handed out the breakfast (dried meat and bread. We only had hot meals at dinner) and we were off. With an angry, pink-caped Lord Hector. He did approach...well charged Matthew about his cape, and Matthew told him that it was wash-out dye, but there wasn't a stream or a body of water handy for Lord Hector to wash his cape. So today he marched to Castle Santaruz with a pink cape. Nobody dared to laugh; Lord Hector looked ready to explode.

From where we were, it would have only taken a couple of hours to reach Castle Santaruz, but we were delayed. By what, you may ask? By a battle, of course! I not that I was surprised. I practically felt it coming. (Refer to my last entry if you don't believe me)

Anyways, as we made our way to Castle Santaruz, a big, bald, green-bearded knight in black armour approached us. He basically taunted Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood called his goons, and ran towards Castle Santaruz, which he seemed to have taken over. Oh, he insulted Lord Hector's pink cape too, which had him boiling mad. You fill in the rest. I don't feel like writing a stupid man's unoriginal, uncreative jabs at a short-tempered Lord Hector. Did I mention he was ugly too?

Moving on...

After that, I quickly scanned the battlefield. There were two villages; one to the west and another to the south(1). "We have to warn them of the coming battle," I thought. Quickly I formulated a plan.

"Bartre! Dorcas! Go to the west and warn the village to that there's a battle starting! Dorcas, you're in charge. Look out for Pegasus knights and don't do anything dangerous! Everyone else, to the south! Lowen, Marcus, take the lead!"

I was sure that Dorcas would keep and Bartre in line, and Marcus and Lowen were the fastest units with the best defense, so it made sense that they lead. Lord Hector, Lord Eliwood, Oswin, Rebecca, Matthew and I soon followed them and engage the enemy. Serra went to warn the other village of the battle, then came back, ready to heal.

The battle went very well. Marcus and Lowen did a good job of weakening the enemies, while Rebecca picked them off with her bow. Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood fought any unit who made it through Marcus and Matthew and I were just all over the place. We were all speed.

And Oswin? He was...slow. By the time he came around, we had finished off over half of the enemy units! And I'm not exaggerating. I two-legged turtle could have ran faster than Oswin. I am a tactician who values speed and precision. Unfortunately, Oswin does not fall into either of these categories, and therefore is left out of my tactics. It may not be smart to not use a unit considering the size of our force, but I wouldn't changed my tactics just for him. Besides, he made it in time to help use against the enemy reinforcements.

The reinforcements were troublesome.

They came out of the blue from the south in the middle of the battle and randomly appeared thereafter. One soldier nearly made it to Rebecca, but fortunately Lord Hector hacked off his head before any damage was done. (To Rebecca) Lord Eliwood was shot from behind in his...behind by an archer, but Serra was quick to heal him. (But Lord Hector probably won't let Lord Eliwood live it down)

And Matthew found a friend!

Well, less of a friend and more of a debtor. The person, who goes by the name of Guy, somehow was tricked into owning Matthew favors. Poor Guy...he's adorable!!

Let me explain.

There are certain things that I find adorable. Like baby animals of all sorts, (excluding insects) cheesy romantic scenes (I admit it!) and shy, stuttering people.

Like Guy.

Like Florina too, while I'm on the subject. She's shy, soft-spoken, and arrhenphobic (afraid of men). I found her so adorable and I just had to become her friend. I told her I found her adorable too. I don't think she minded. I'm going to become friends with Guy too. He's adorable too! And he stutters! I think he's girl-shy. Oh, did I mention he's Sacaen like Lyn? I think that's awesome. I hate how Sacaens are treated poorly because of what they are. They are not lower than non-Sacaens. In fact, they are probably better people than many nobles that I've meet. Many nobles do nothing by lie, cheat, and steal from their people. Sacaens never lie! And they respect nature! So many people just take and take and don't care at all about what they are doing to the earth! I don't care about anybody but themselves!

Ahem.

After defeating the enemy reinforcements, we met up with Dorcas and Bartre. Surprising, they took care of all the Pegasus knights without much injury. I thought Bartre might have jumped on to a lance or something trying to attack knight. Maybe, I should be a little less judgemental...But then he wanted to spar with Marcus's horse...

Lord Hector decapitated the stupid knight's head.

Fight scenes take a long time to do well, and if you're not the one fighting and you are not fascinated with the combatants' fighting styles, it's not very fun, or necessary to write. For me, anyways. Or maybe I'm just trying to justify my laziness...again...nah.

So we won the battle at Santaruz Castle...to witness the death of Lord Santaruz.

I feel sorry for Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector. Lord Santaruz must have been like an uncle to them. But he did leave us some interesting information before his parting. Lord Eliwood's father seemed to be involved in a mysterious scheme, and Lord Darin of Laus knows what it is.

So after dealing with Santaruz and re-equiping ourselves with new weapons (courtesy of Santaruz) we sent off for Laus. The company was weary from the afternoon fight, but Lord Hector insisted that we leave immediately. It definitely lowered morale. Everyone grumpily set off, leaving the possibility of comfortable beds and baths behind them. Me, I didn't really care. Remember, I prefer to sleep outside. But I understand their complaints. The ground isn't as appealing to most people as it is to me. I'm just an oddity.

Anyways, we were making our way to Laus when a high-pitched male scream rang through the air. (How did I know it was male? I just do.) Quickly, Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood ran in the direction the voice was coming from. Of course the rest of us followed, but really, don't those two think? What if it was a trap? It's not unheard of. Bandits (the smarter ones) sometimes pretend to be in danger to lure people and then ambush them. They could have gotten themselves killed! And I would be out of a job again...I mean...I later spoke to Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood about the risk they took, but I don't believe that either will remember anything I said. Lord Eliwood's sense of justice would overtake his common sense, and Lord Hector would probably enjoy rushing head first into an ambush. Sigh. Reckless!

So, by the time we reached Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood, they were already engaged in battle, trying to protect a blued haired man and his cart. "Great," I thought, "Another battle...at night too..."

"Matthew, Guy, Dorcas and Bartre, protect the rear! Marcus, Lowen, Oswin, and Rebecca, go assist Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood! Serra, be ready to heal!"

And with that, the battle went on. In front of us were cavaliers, nomads, myrmidons and archers. Behind were bandits, more myrmidons, and a mage! It was a hard battle, Guy getting singed pretty badly before getting healed by Serra, and Dorcas suffering a deep leg wound (from saving Bartre) but no one died. Not on our side, anyways. We DESTROYED them. They were completely annihilated. They must have either been extremely loyal, or royally paid. Either way, they didn't back down. We had to kill every single one of them before finally getting to the boss, a ratty looking man.(2) He was killed by Rebecca. (who's shot is improving much quicker than I expected)

Then we were introduced to the frightened man in the cart. His name is Merlinus, and he's a merchant. (As the cart implied) Why was he out in the middle of no where, with no protection and no fighting skills, I don't know, but he's going to carry all our extra equipment, which will make moving around much easier, and that's what matters. A new member with different services. A good addition. It's good to have a variety of units. Even if they can't fight, anyone can be useful. Now we don't have to lug around all our equipment by ourselves!

To wrap things up, we made it to a village (which we unknowing protected from bandits) and were given free rooms for the night. And 5000 gold. Generous, eh? The company was happy too. Morale was raised to its pervious level.

So I write this on the floor of my own room, because I'm the odd-one-out. But that's okay. I'm in the room farthest away from Lord Hector's, so I might be able to sleep well tonight. And because I have my own room, I was able to write this entry without interruptions. It now done, by the way. The entry, I mean. Uhhh...I'm so tired...must wait until ink dries...eh...where did Matthew get the dye?

'Night...

Sandra

Author's note:

Just for my convenience, on every map, north is up, south is down, east is right, and west is left. If you're a little angry with the lack description for battles, that's because I don't really enjoy writing battle scenes about characters that are not among my favourites (like how Sandra didn't want to write about it either) and, like Sandra, I'm lazy and tired. Every time I wrote part of this chapter, I wrote it at night to fit the whole tired bit. So, right now, I'm tired... and a tad grumpy

In the game, Germ/Jerm (not sure of spelling) ran off at the end of the battle. In my story, he died. Why? Because I don't recall a chapter where Germ/Jerm was killed, in- or outside a battle, but at the end of the game he came back as a morph. So, I killed him here. If you have proof of him dying somewhere else in the game, please send it to me, and I will edit this chapter.

Thank you for reading!


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